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flyers will easily 99.9% miss the playoffs. flyers have nothing in common with the any recent cup winners.
flyers strategy is completely flawed on how to build a team.
The Flyers continue to build on a foundation of quicksand and are always scratching their heads and are always surprised at the results.
Zito putting it all together for the Panthers doesn’t diminish that the team was built around those 2 anchors and it took many years after they were drafted to get where they are. The Flyers haven’t even drafted those players. The clock hasn’t even started on an actual rebuild.
It certainly could happen that the Flyers miss the playoffs again this year, they win the lottery and draft McKenna or finish badly enough to pull a rabbit out of a hat with another 13th or higher pick. We went through all the recent Cup winners, and while they’ve all built their teams a bit differently, they were all built solidly, deep, good sized and a bit nasty.
flyers will easily 99.9% miss the playoffs. flyers have nothing in common with the any recent cup winners.
flyers strategy is completely flawed on how to build a team.
Zito putting it all together for the Panthers doesn’t diminish that the team was built around those 2 anchors and it took many years after they were drafted to get where they are. The Flyers haven’t even drafted those players. The clock hasn’t even started on an actual rebuild.
It certainly could happen that the Flyers miss the playoffs again this year, they win the lottery and draft McKenna or finish badly enough to pull a rabbit out of a hat with another 13th or higher pick. We went through all the recent Cup winners, and while they’ve all built their teams a bit differently, they were all built solidly, deep, good sized and a bit nasty.
The only reason you’re mentioning Barkov and Ekblad in the same breath as Crosby and McDavid is because they have Cups. Barkov is a Top 10 center in the league, not sure Ekblad is currently a Top 10 Dman but he’s close enough. FLA scored big with #1 and #2 overall picks more than a decade ago but it wasn’t until Zito came on that Florida became a legit contender and now 2-time champs. Barkov and Ekblad have good size, don’t get pushed around. Ekblad is a mean defender.
Which is exactly what the Flyers need to do. Thank you.
Zito putting it all together for the Panthers doesn’t diminish that the team was built around those 2 anchors and it took many years after they were drafted to get where they are. The Flyers haven’t even drafted those players. The clock hasn’t even started on an actual rebuild.
Where are the Barkov, Ekblad, Austin Matthews, Makar, Sidney Crosby, McDavid, etc players?
The only reason you’re mentioning Barkov and Ekblad in the same breath as Crosby and McDavid is because they have Cups. Barkov is a Top 10 center in the league, not sure Ekblad is currently a Top 10 Dman but he’s close enough. FLA scored big with #1 and #2 overall picks more than a decade ago but it wasn’t until Zito came on that Florida became a legit contender and now 2-time champs. Barkov and Ekblad have good size, don’t get pushed around. Ekblad is a mean defender.
The Flyers are skipping step 1. They are drafting the people to support the corner stones, which they don’t have nor do they have a plan to acquire.
In the last four drafts, the Flyers have had five picks in the Top 13. With them, they got Drysdale (for all practical purposes), Michkov, Luchanko, Martone, Nesbitt. Players picked that high have about a 90% shot at becoming NHL regulars. Yes, the return on Gauthier is looking bad but I don’t see how anyone can complain about the picks now. Below those picks, they’ve grabbed Bonk, Zavgarin, Bump and a few others who could become regulars, not just guys who will get a few games in. They already have some good pieces in place, including one of those Top 13 draft picks.
Nobody said that they didn’t pick players who couldn’t turn out to be NHL regulars, all complementary players are NHL regulars. Michkov is already on his way to being a very good player, the rest we’ll see. Jett over Buium is probably not great. Bonk over Perrault is probably not great.
Where are the Barkov, Ekblad, Austin Matthews, Makar, Sidney Crosby, McDavid, etc players? The clock doesn’t start ticking on a rebuild until you have them because you want the team to peak during those cornerstone players primes. You build around them, not the other way around.
Will they be better than the current team eventually, yes. Will they be more than a bubble team with these players, not likely but I feel Flyers fans have made making the playoffs their version of the Stanley Cup because they have been beaten down so much.
The Flyers are skipping step 1. They are drafting the people to support the corner stones, which they don’t have nor do they have a plan to acquire.
In the last four drafts, the Flyers have had five picks in the Top 13. With them, they got Drysdale (for all practical purposes), Michkov, Luchanko, Martone, Nesbitt. Players picked that high have about a 90% shot at becoming NHL regulars. Yes, the return on Gauthier is looking bad but I don’t see how anyone can complain about the picks now. Below those picks, they’ve grabbed Bonk, Zavgarin, Bump and a few others who could become regulars, not just guys who will get a few games in. They already have some good pieces in place, including one of those Top 13 draft picks.
what are they doing differently from the past?
Better utilizing the draft. They’ve had 12 picks in the past three drafts in rounds 1 & 2, including five first round picks. Are they going to hit on every one of those, obviously not, but they’re setting themselves up for better odds by acquiring more picks. They still need a top 3 pick, or two, which they haven’t had, unfortunately. That’s where you start the process. It’s also the most picks they’ve had in rounds 1 & 2 during any three year stretch in their history. I’m hopeful that trend continues.
I am not seeing anything all that different. They accumulated picks because they have been so bad. They will not get a top 3 pick by design; not much has been accomplished by design. That is the problem.
Look at the players they have taken in those rounds. Vanilla as can be with all pretty much having the same skillset. That will not get you anywhere. All depth/complimentary types if they pan out.
You’re trying to put the cart before the horse, it’s not a finished product yet. They’re three drafts into a rebuilding process, it’s ridiculous to think they’re going to turn the franchise around in three drafts without having a top five pick in any of those drafts. I completely understand the frustration, I was born in the late 60’s and I’ve been following this team for a long time, quite frankly, it’s been one of the worst run franchises for the past 15 years. They’ve been unable to adapt to a cap era, they’ve always built teams primarily through deals, not drafting. You can’t make good deals if you haven’t drafted well and have some ammunition to get what you want. Even with drafting there’s no guarantees, look at the Leafs, they had some excellent players they drafted but they were way too top heavy and didn’t build a balanced “team”.
I refuse to crap all over what they’re trying to accomplish just because I’m upset with the past, it hasn’t been good, but moving forward, I’m more hopeful than I’ve been in a long time.
Briere : “I think we’re at a stage now where we’re going to shift a little bit from subtracting from the roster into trying to start to add and help the team”
If you aren’t going to have a top 5 pick, let alone multiple top 5 picks in the first couple years of a stated rebuild, then when do you expect the Flyers to get them? Especially after they announce they are moving onto the next phase, buying players.
Chicago drafted their (probable) #1 center and #1 dman, SJ drafted their (probable) #1 center and #1 dman, etc. Nobody is calling them finished products, these players and teams are years from being finished products. But they’ve started the clock. They have their building blocks, now they just need to build around them. Just because the Flyers refuse to make the hard decisions doesn’t mean it’s not something fans shouldn’t expect from a competent front office.
The Flyers haven’t had a top 5 pick because the front office doesn’t want one. Hell they were embarrassed to be as bad as they were last year because as Jonesy said “We’re saying one thing to everyone as far as our messaging that we’re rebuilding, but we made sure to tell everyone on the team that’s BS.” Just the year before they almost made the playoffs (despite not beating a division opponent for 3 consecutive months in an historically easy year to win the 8th spot). That’s why they panicked and bribed Fedotov to come over.
The Flyers are skipping step 1. They are drafting the people to support the corner stones, which they don’t have nor do they have a plan to acquire.
Why does it always come down to a “guarantee” when there is no defense for the flyers roster building? If you can’t “guarantee” a cup, the Flyers shouldn’t draft an Austin Matthews or Connor McDavid or Cale Makar or Sidney Crosby or Barkov or Ekblad, etc. Who needs them, amirite?
Winning the Stanley cup takes more than just talent but make no mistake, it does take talent. The kind of talent you can’t buy in FA.
Think I’ll go talk to a wall. I’m sure it will be a far more intelligent conversation.
Hahaha. Why, because I haven’t bought into every non-sensical anti-Flyers cliche you have? Here are a couple pro tips for you:
1. Wanting a team that doesn’t get pushed around like a bunch of shopping carts and, possibly, pushes the other team around, doesn’t mean skill doesn’t matter or that we should all time travel back to the 70s for that old time hockey.
2. Every smallish, amateur Dman with some offensive skills is not the next Erik Karlsson. Actually, playing defense still matters.
